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“Oh, no, are you serious?” Dakota set her hand over mine. She was the one who understood how much I truly loved it.
What it meant.
I fought the welling of sadness and the surge of anger. It was no use because it still climbed up to knot in my throat. “I basically told him where to shove it. I thought I could handle his rudeness since he’d been making himself scarce the last couple times I’d been there, but nope. The second he opened his mouth, the offenses just came flying out. I’m not going to put up with it.”
Beth lifted her glass to clink with mine. Too bad I had yet to get a drink. “To ditching assholes.”
“I second that.” Dakota gave an exaggerated jerk of her chin, and they bumped their glasses together.
“And I third it.” Chloe added her glass to the mix, though her attention was on me. “Life’s hard enough without subjecting ourselves to someone who can’t treat us with respect. It’s his loss.”
My stomach tightened. My gut told me it was Evelyn’s loss, too.
That child lit up when she was around that horse, her whole demeanor coming alive. And she’d started to talk a bit to me, too. Very little, but still, way more than the first day I’d worked with her.
“I’m going to grab a drink. Anyone need a refill?” I offered.
Dakota lifted her near-empty glass that swam with a bright pink concoction at the bottom. “Another cosmo for me. I haven’t had a night out in months. Prepare yourselves. I’m going lushy tonight.”
“I’m going to have to call it at just this one.” Beth waved her glass.
“Tell me you aren’t already thinking of leaving us. Not when I just got here.” I gave her an exaggerated pout.
“I have to be up early in the morning. I’m opening the café so this one can party her cute little butt off tonight.” She gestured at Dakota. “Once in a while we need to let our girl out to play.”
“Yay!” I tossed Dakota’s way before I swiveled to look back at Beth and drew out, “And booooo.”
She laughed her husky laugh behind another sip of her beer. “You can’t have it both ways.”
“I want it all the ways.”
“Now there’s the abundance mentality I’m looking for,” Chloe shouted over the din.
“Mmmhmm…that’s your girl right here.” I pointed at myself with both thumbs. “And this girl is off to the bar. Be right back.”
Dakota leaned back on the stool, swiveling around to shout as I disappeared into the crowd, “Hurry unless you find yourself a hottie to distract yourself with, then I approve.”
I already felt ten times better by the time I shouldered my way up to the bar. This was exactly what I needed. A night out to remember that even when things got hard and didn’t go the way I wanted them to, I was surrounded by a fantastic group of people.
People who loved me.
Supported me.
Believed in me the way I believed in them.
“Paisley Dae. What can I get for you tonight?” Lilac wiped her hands on a dishtowel. She looked more biker than country, black hair and dark liner, her shoulders and arms covered in colorful ink. Her leather corset was tight and pushed her boobs up to spill over the top.
She was crazy hot and all kinds of amazing.
“Hey, Lilac. I’m going to need a cosmo for Dakota and a mule for me, but that’s going to need to be a double.”
Chuckling low, she moved into action. “One of those nights, huh?”
“Yes, ma’am, it is definitely one of those nights. You shall be seeing me frequently.” I dug into my bag so I could pull out my card when I felt someone nudge my opposite shoulder, the drawl of a country voice rumbling out, “Well look it there. It must be my lucky day.”
I tossed my attention that way, and a surprised smile split my mouth when I saw Nate there with his forearms leaned on top of the bar. His grin was sly and confident, wearing the same cowboy hat he always wore, his dimples popping out all over his handsome face.
I guess I had found a hottie to distract me.
“Nate, hey, how are you?”
“Better now. I was worried I might not see you again.”
Discomfited laughter rolled up my throat. “You witnessed that today, huh?”
His grin widened to a smirk. “I imagine the whole ranch did. Hell, probably the town was able to hear that shoutin’ match.”
I cringed, but it wasn’t like I had anything to be embarrassed about.
“Sorry he treated you like that. I should’ve—”
I set my hand on his forearm. “Don’t apologize. It had nothing to do with you and all to do with him. He apparently has an issue with my mere existence.”
“Seems to me he has an issue with everyone’s existence.”
